Online trolls face prison in UK

Cyber bullying and other forms of online harassment could lead to jail sentences in Britain under a crackdown on online trolls.

Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has issued guidelines to prosecutors covering a wide range of potentially offensive communications sent via social media, which could be considered criminal under the country's Serious Crime Act 2007 and lead to jail sentences for offenders.

A high threshold of evidence will apply before CPS decides to prosecute online offenders, whose behaviour will be weighed as if it took place in the physical world.

The guidelines say people who encourage others to participate in online harassment campaigns, so-called virtual mobbing, could be charged and sent to prison if found guilty under the Serious Crime Act.

Harassing people by publishing their personal details online will also be considered a crime, the CPC noted.

"Examples of potentially criminal behaviour include making available personal information, for example a home address or bank details - a practice known as "doxxing" - or creating a derogatory hashtag to encourage harassment of victims," the CPS said.

Creating false or offensive social media profiles could also amount to a criminal offence.

The guidelines similarly include new sections on violence against women and vulnerable victims, and hate crime.

The outlaw actions such as humiliating a person online by labelling them sexually promiscuous, or posting digitally altered pictures of people on social media.

Alison Saunders, UK's director of public prosecutions, warned online trolls not to rely on pseudo-anonymity in the hope of escaping the consequences of their actions.

"Ignorance is not a defence and perceived anonymity is not an escape. Those who commit these acts, or encourage others to do the same, can and will be prosecuted," Saunders said.

Various forms of cyberbullying are considered crimes under state and federal law in Australia, with maximum penalties ranging from six months to five years imprisonment, depending on the nature and seriousness of the offence.